Aldi Irish Whiskeys

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned these yet as they have been on the go now for a few weeks. Advertised again in the papers today. I have not had a chance to get any of the new "Specially Selected" releases yet.

Aldi currently have a range of Irish Whiskeys.

The Avoca is back with what may be a new label @ €18.89.

The also have 2 whiskeys in their "Specially Selected" range which is their premium range of food products.


Specially Selected Aged Irish Whiskey (A Blend) @ €24.99

The blurb says

On the Nose this minimum 8 year aged Irish Whiskey is rich, with sweet vanilla, spice and honey.

Sounds pleasent enough.

and

Specially Selected Aged Irish Single Malt @ €28.99

This single malt Irish Whiskey is soft and full with sweet and citrus aromas, whilst the palate is caramel infused with toffee and honey and dry oak with lingering dry sweet finish.

Sounds interesting but possibly too sweet but the finish may conter balance the sweetness if the blurb is to be believed.

If anybody has tasted any of them please post your thoughts here.

[varizoltan]

i got the 3 them and also 2 whiskey liquores, but have not tried them

may be tomorrow

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Picked up a couple of the Aldi single malts this morning and glad I did as they were gone in Galway on friday and my local Aldi only had a few left today. Eventhough they are being sold as always available I somehow doubt that Aldi are going to have 3 Irish whiskeys available. I reckon they are for Christmas trade so get yours now or be dissappointed.

By the way it says on the back just like the blend "aged for aminimum of 8 years" so I suppose 28.99 is not too bad.

Will open one up in a week or so and post back here.

[JohnM]

Very good. I wonder is it close in flavour to the Locke's 8?

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Very good. I wonder is it close in flavour to the Locke's 8?

I'll let you know as soon as possible if someone else does not do it in the mean time. Not sure if I'll be much use if I do it this week with my nose still out of action but you never know I may give it a go for at least the taste as I'm very curious. I have a bottle of lockes 8yo on the go at the moment also.

[varizoltan]

interesting that the 2 specially selected have cork, and the avoca just a screwcap

well, the blend

i have not much more than you can expect for that price, but i would put it above kellans blend
got some grain, honey and vanilla and a little wood on the nose,
a bit oily, with citrus and caramel taste
woody sweet dry finish

so overall it is ok, actually better than i was expected


the single malt

i get the tyrconnellish single malt nose with more caramel (you can see on the color too)
citrus and wood with more caramel on taste
sweet honey drying on finish

overall it is good, but a little less caramel would be better, but than it is the same as tyrconell single malt

single malt bottle code L9146
blend bottle code L9147

[varizoltan]

Avoca blend

similar to the other blend, vanilla and caramel on nose with more grain
sweet grainy taste, drying very fast on the palate
not much left for finish,

i believe it is a young whiskey, even the color is lighter than the other 2


so my rating is

1 single malt
2 aged blend
3 avoca

to be a bit J.M.

single malt; 84
aged blend 80
avoca blend 78

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Cheers Zoltan ...

I cracked open the single malt myself ... but did not get much from it.

Can't yet nose so I'm missing loads

I found the taste buttery, and fruity but definately a nice spice burst there also.

COuld not really detect a finish but that is probaly because of my bunged up nose ...

[varizoltan]

yes , i was not sure what was it and i said oily, but lots of caramel which i think give it the color too


did you got those liqueurs
1 is specially selected, the other is classic new natural flavour,bronze and silver medal winners at IWSC
i got both, just wonde what they like

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

did you got those liqueurs
1 is specially selected, the other is classic new natural flavour,bronze and silver medal winners at IWSC
i got both, just wonde what they like

No not into liqueurs so did not bother.

They are only for builders

[varizoltan]

i got it for the girls for home
keep them happy

[Whiskey Pilgrim]

Kaixo Guys,
Guys come on this club is de rigeur, the Ivy league of Irish whiskey conniseurs ,or at least a great bunch of p*** heads..so why are we wasting space on "cheap&nasties" labels for the great un-washed,??

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Kaixo Guys,
Guys come on this club is de rigeur, the Ivy league of Irish whiskey conniseurs ,or at least a great bunch of p*** heads..so why are we wasting space on "cheap&nasties" labels for the great un-washed,??

I'm susrprised you'd knock a whiskey before trying it ... thought you'd be more open minded to any Irish Whiskey.

The Scotts long have said that there is no such thing as a bad malt just better malts.

Not sure if I agree but I do believe that I should try everything that I come across.

I came across a guy lately that pontificated long and hard about Irish Whiskey yet had never tasted any Cooley whiskey and had limited exposure to Bushmills.

I would say to be a true conniseur of Irish Whiskeys you have to taste all varities available to your disposal to make informed decisions on what constitutes a good Irish whiskey ... It is also a good excuse to open another bottle

It turns out that the Aldi Single Malt is a fairly decent whiskey. I bought it because of the description of spice in it and it was true to it's word. For me it's better than the regular Tyrconnell and quite different from any other Cooley I've had before. So on that pretense it is not a cheap and nasty

[Willie JJ]

I totally agree with you Adrian. Just because you don't know what a whiskey is doesn't make it a bad whiskey. We have had some great experiences with supermarket Scotches and ocassionally when a distillery manager lets slip that they recently sold a batch to so and so it all makes sense. I would have thought the situation with Irish malts was much easier. There are just not that many places it could have come from (unfortunately). Part of the fun is in the guessing. And most importantly if you can get great whiskey for a small amount of money why would you want to pay a lot of money just to get the brand label on the bottle.

I must check to see of Scottish Aldis have these drams.

[jcskinner]

There is such a thing as a bad malt.
Much as I love what they stand for, the Edradour Sauternes finish is a bad malt.
That having been said, some of the better whiskeys I've tried, be it Scotch, Irish or Bourbon, were not necessarily the priciest or most prestigious.
Just on the Irish front, for what they are it's really hard to beat either Powers 12 yo or Black Bush. Just because in most pubs in Ireland, these whiskeys are available doesn't make them any less special. They're both fine whiskeys that happen to be cheap too, thanks be to God.
I haven't tried the Aldi whiskeys, but Adrian and Zoltan have pretty good palates in my experience, and I'd be happy to be guided by them when they suggest looking past the label and the retailer to the whiskey in the jar.
If they reckon it's a grand dram, it likely is as far as I can see, and I'm thankful for that but not surprised. Cooley have a reputation for providing decent spirit for supermarket brands, and in this era of premium, super-premium and ultra-premium pricing, isn't it nice to see someone providing something palatable to the most affordable end of the market?

[Willie JJ]

in this era of premium, super-premium and ultra-premium pricing, isn't it nice to see someone providing something palatable to the most affordable end of the market?

I concur.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Yes Willie was it not Tesco's that had a half decent Highland Malt last year or early this year and for 14Quid you could not complain.

I've actually had a bit more of the Aldi malt tonight and I'm getting more impressed with it. What impressed me is the fact it is quite different from their Tyrconnell base type malt. I think more vanilla than fruit and the chewy butteriness and spice make it quite interesting.